Active aging
September 2014 • Vol. 35-No. 10
Welcome Fall September 23 January 2004 • Vol. 25-No.2
Informing 112,000 55+ readers Southcentral Kansas Serving 80,000 Readers in in South Central Kansas
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By Elvira Crocker Demographers predict that by 2030 one-fifth of the U.S. population will be 65 or older. Marketers, as well as those of us who write about this goup, are always in search of the best terms to reach this population. So what’s a good term for those age 65 or older? Active aging went to the presumed target population to ask: “What do you prefer to be called?” Some had gray hair, some didn’t. If they mentioned “senior discounts” or said they read our publication, they were my targets. This is what some said Harlow Safford in my highly unscientific poll. “I’ve never really thought about it,” Harlow Safford, a retired Navy career vet,
admitted, “but I think being called a senior or senior citizen is just fine.” But, he added, “when it comes to elderly or aging, even though the terms might apply, they are not terms I would use.” Marilyn Powell, a retired teacher who still substitutes, said she didn’t feel “almost 67, but what does that feel like anyway?” There was definitely a reaction to the dreaded E-word. “I really (her emphasis) don’t think of myself as elderly. Senior fits the bill fine.” Marilyn Powell Marlene Markley, a former educator and medical transcriptionist, recalled that she was listening to an audiobook, and the narrator spoke
of a 60-year-old woman as elderly. “I was probably 68 then and remember thinking the author must be in his/her 20s. “I suppose that means I didn’t yet think of myself as elderly. I think of myself as late middle age or, now that I am 70, early older age, but those terms are unwieldy. Senior doesn’t bother me at Marlene Markley all. It’s OK. “If I were 50, however, I wouldn’t think ‘senior’ would be right. I don’t think I’ll feel elderly until I’m 80.” She then declared: “Eighty is the new 60!” One individual asked if we call those over 65 “seniors” does that mean that everyone else is a “junior?” Logical question. Is “older” a more user-friendly word? See Senior, page 7
‘Gray divorce’ numbers up By David Dinell For Margie, her divorce was a long time in coming. The 62-year-old Wichitan said she simply kept postponing the inevitable. “There were many, many issues involved. I wanted it to happen a long time before it did.” But Margie, who asked that her last name not be used, said she stayed in the troubled relationship for the sake of the children. “Sometimes you put the children first, and in the process you lose yourself,” she said. “I didn’t think I deserved to be happy, and I lost the courage along the way. It was just stagnant.” But the children grew up and left. In 2007, after 35 years of marriage, she got a divorce. Margie’s not alone. A growing number of those 50-plus are divorcing; many after long marriages. There’s even a term for it: “gray divorce.” More in that age group are divorced than widowed, according to an examination of U.S. Census data by two sociology professors at Bowling Green State Uni-
Photo by David Dinell Margie advises other seniors going through a divorce to take care of themselves first and seek help as needed.
versity. This research was groundbreaking because most previous studies concentrated on young couples. The sociologists discovered that divorce
among older adults has more than doubled since 1990 when it was 10 percent. By 2011 it was closer to 28 percent and continues to increase.
See Divorce, page 14